Summary of New Testament From a Jewish Point of View Class - May 23, 2022

It was a fun and interesting discussion and time of study as usual.  Jo Ann’s longtime friend Jessica joined us via the phone since she does not have Zoom and Norky also joined us for the full hour.  In addition to Jessica and Norky attending, Jo Ann, Dan, Odette, Karen, Dave, Robin, and Merrill attended. 

We began with our tradition of Dan leading us in “Give Us That Old Time Religion.”

Below is a summary Dan wrote about our time together: 

NT from Jewish Point of View Monday May, 23, 2022

We covered II Corinthians, chapters 4-5

Much of the discussion today centered on the question Merrill asked: What does Judaism teach about judgement and the life to come?

Karen spoke of the fact that life on earth is temporary, which set the tone for our following discussion. Odette said there are parallels between this passage and the current parsha in Leviticus. The parsha in Leviticus speaks about the year of jubilee with its concept of redemption. Jo Ann added that Rabbi Moskowitz has said that we do not know what is to come after death.

In II Corinthians 5, verse 10, Paul spoke of the judgement seat of Christ, that all must be judged “for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad”. This seems to be at odds with the concept of redemption/forgiveness by grace alone found in the book of Romans. Dave shared that in Judaism there are different sorts of sins, sins against God, sins against other people, and murder. He said that we must ask God for forgiveness for sins against God, for example, eating a pork chop. For sins against other people we must first ask forgiveness from the other people. If they decline to forgive, then God can forgive. Dave understood that murder is without forgiveness because it is impossible to ask forgiveness from the dead.

Odette spoke of the “unburdening of conscience” that asking for forgiveness brings, and of forgiveness requested on Yom Kippur. Merrill told of the AA teaching of “making amends”, which involved asking forgiveness for things done when a person was drunk or under the influence of other drugs. Jo Ann expressed hope for the future for her family’s reconciliation, and shared about the reconciliation that happened with a friend named Frank.

Our last bit concerned the difficulty of the Christian concept of there being only one way to God’s forgiveness, especially in light of the Holocaust. Can someone like Hitler be forgiven? What of the “unbelieving” Jews slain during the Holocaust, are they doomed for eternity while the ones who killed them were eligible for forgiveness? The questions remain.

Replies, corrections and additions are welcomed.

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